• by John Capone , April 15, 2009

USA Today is about as mainstream as you can get. Its readership might not be the mixed martial arts' Dude Demo sweet spot, but the national newspaper is getting in the ring.

USA Today announced that it would become the first national newspaper to offer regular MMA coverage. In addition to the MMA rankings it is publishing, USA Today has just launched a new MMA community online called Fighting Stances.

Those accustomed to only picking up the paper when staying at a Marriott may be surprised that the broadsheet has partnered with something called Bloody Elbow. In an effort to provide readers with a reliable and fair ranking of MMA fighters in the sports pages, USA Today teamed with Bloody Elbow (the MMA blog from SB Nation) to compile the monthly USA Today/SB Nation Consensus MMA Rankings.

With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million USA Today is the nation's top-selling newspaper; when coupled with USAToday.com, it reaches 5.5 million readers a day. And MMA's numbers are not too shabby either. The UFC bout that aired on Spike TV on Saturday, April 11 pulled an overall 1.4 household rating and drew an average audience of 1.9 million viewers, per Nielsen. It was the No. 1 program in cable and broadcast among men ages 18-34 for its time slot.

Of course, the sport is not for everyone. It can be brutal and violent, and has had something of a problem gaining mainstream media acceptance. USA Today's pickup comes at an opportune time for the sport. NBCSports.com dropped its regular MMA coverage in February, and the CBS-backed EliteXC fizzled after making a splashy entrance on the network last year.

And UFC in particular, the largest and most successful MMA league, has had a somewhat contentious relationship with media outlets. UFC President Dana White put long-rumored back-room bigotry and intimidation tactics on display when he went on the offensive and posted a belligerent expletive- and slur-laden tirade against Loretta Hunt, a journalist from Sherdog.com, the top-ranking MMA-coverage site. (Sherdog recently signed a three-year deal to cover the sport for ESPN.com.)

Hunt points to ESPN's commitment and the new USA Today coverage as evidence of MMA's continued growth. "This shows media outlets believe the sport's going to stick around," she says.

White's reaction brings to light a rift between UFC and the journalists who cover it. There are reports of a media ban said to have been decreed by UFC years ago, basically banishing the writers from MMA pubs. Hunt says: "There are things that need to happen for this to be considered a legitimate sport."

Ironically, White's blowup has provided fodder for the mainstream outlets that cover the sport. Already, the new USAToday.com's Fight Stances has five posts on the subject.